Flight schedules have returned to normal at Dublin Airport following two days of disruption, delays and cancellations caused by a technology outage at the UK’s air traffic control service, National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
However, aviation industry group the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has claimed there will be a huge financial cost for airlines to bear on the back of the disruption.
IATA director general, Willie Walsh, said: “I feel for all the passengers that have suffered and continue to suffer huge inconvenience from the delays and cancellations caused by another meltdown of the UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS). I also sympathize with airline employees who face considerable additional stress dealing with the challenging recovery from this failure.
“NATS has crucial questions to answer about their responsibility for this fiasco. The failure of this essential service is unacceptable and brings into question the oversight of the CAA who are required to review the NATS resilience plan under the terms of its licence.
“This incident is yet another example of why the passenger rights system isn’t fit for purpose. Airlines will bear significant sums in care and assistance charges, on top of the costs of disruption to crew and aircraft schedules. But it will cost NATS nothing. The UK’s policy makers should take note. The passenger rights system needs to be rebalanced to be fair for all with effective incentives. Until that happens, I fear we will see a continuing failure to improve the reliability, cost efficiency, and environmental performance of air traffic control. The current system does not protect passengers. It hurts them,” Mr Walsh said Willie Walsh.
RTÉ quoted Mr Walsh as estimating the cost to airlines being around £100m (€116m).
